Deep Into the Game: S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND (Episode 1) (Volume 1)

SERIES DESCRIPTION:
In the center of Long Island's forbidden wasteland, overseen by a powerful corporation known as Arc Properties, is GAMELAND, a massive virtual reality arcade where the rich and privileged act out their most base fantasies. Using cybernetic links and holographic setups, Operators pit their Undead Players against one other in a high stakes game of violence, money and power, while the poor can only watch the horrifying and powerfully addictive contests on State-controlled media streams.
Or they can volunteer to become Players themselves. Highly illegal, the promise of fame and money is a powerful lure for some into The Game.

On a whim, a small group of computer hackers and gamers decides to sneak onto the island, hoping to catch a glimpse of the uncontrolled Infecteds, unimplanted victims of the outbreak that took place there over a decade earlier. But while breaking in is a lot easier than any of them could have imagined, getting back out is one a hell of a killer.

The series consists of eight episodes published monthly through December 2012. All are available in both digital and paperback formats.The full series omnibus is also available in digital and paper.

EPISODE 1: Deep Into The Game
Zpocalypto gamer Jessica Daniels and her gang of code jackers decide to break into Long Island's Gameland hoping to catch a glimpse of the Infected Undead. In doing so they risk having additional years added to their Life Service Commitment (a civil or military obligation fulfilled after death). But getting past the barriers - the EM field, the wall surrounding the island, the mined waters - requires the assistance of an outsider to their tight-knit group. Tensions rise, particularly between Jessie and her boyfriend, as do the risks. After a terrifying "accident" during preparation nearly takes the life of one of their members, emotions run dangerously high.

What they find when they finally arrive in the abandoned wasteland is like nothing they ever imagined. Excitement quickly turns to dread, and dread to terror, as the reality of their situation - and the dangers - become all too clear.
Episode 1 is approximately 50,000 words